This morning as I walked my dog Harry I noticed many houses decorated for Halloween. I love this time of year. The air is crisp and the leaves are changing colors. There are many families with young children in my neighborhood so the decorations can be quite elaborate. One house put up fake tombstones in their front yard. I had to chuckle when I read the inscription on one of them, “I told you I was sick.” Another house has a giant inflatable black cat in their front yard. As my dog approached, the cat’s head turned and poor Harry jumped a foot in the air.
Tonight will be my 16th year trick or treating with my kids. We will go house to house knocking on doors asking for goodies. It wasn’t always this way. When my oldest son was born we were living in NYC. We never walked the streets at Halloween; instead we took the elevator from one apartment floor to the next. I remember complaining to my wife that we were wasting our lives waiting for the elevator. We lived on the 21st floor and I was ready to move into a house. I wanted to raise a family in a neighborhood. My wife suggested I stop complaining and start doing something about it.
The next day I bought a big map of the United States and hung it in our hallway. Every day after work we would cross off a state we didn’t want to live in. Weeks went by and it was pretty easy to see we wanted to stay on the East Coast. After a month we had narrowed our dream places to live to just three states…North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. A hurricane rolled through North Carolina so we took it off the list and we were down to two.
I will never forget what happened next. I received a phone call from a man with a southern accent. He told me he wanted to buy my business under the condition that we relocate to Atlanta, Georgia to help him with the transition. What was very odd about this call was that my business was not for sale. He offered to fly me to Atlanta to visit and discuss the deal. I fell in love with the city and sold my business. The next thing you know we were trick or treating in the suburbs of Atlanta. It didn’t take long for our vision to come true.
This happens more often than you might imagine. Take for example the 28-year-old woman who fell in love with the book, The Color Purple. She bought a book for every one of her friends. When she heard they were making a movie she was obsessed about being involved. Her dream was to star in the movie but she had never acted before. Every night before bed she made a list of ways she could participate in the movie. Her list included actress, understudy, costume designer, caterer, and even cleaning lady. As she drifted off to sleep she pictured herself winning an award for her debut performance.
Then one day she received a phone call from a casting director asking her to audition. She was shocked because she had never even applied for a role in the movie. She went to the audition but she didn’t hear back. She thought she was too overweight so she went to a clinic to get healthy. While she was there she received another call. This time it was from the director, Steven Spielberg, who asked her to fly to LA for a second audition. It turned out that while Quincy Jones, the producer of the movie, was visiting Chicago, a woman on a local TV show called A.M. Chicago caught his attention. This unknown talk show host was Oprah Winfrey. She got the part in the movie, was nominated for an academy award, and her career was launched.
Far too many of us focus on what we don’t want in life rather than what we do want. Create a vision for the dreams you desire and start imagining all the ways they can come true. Don’t allow negative thoughts to spoil your vision. Doubting yourself is like rehearsing for what you don’t want. Knock. Knock. Trick or Treat. Choose wisely and you will enjoy sweet dreams.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Rags to Riches
When I was 14 years old I remember asking my mother for money so I could go to the movies with my friends. She looked at me and with a smile she said, “What do I look like, a bank?” It was her way of teaching me the importance of working for the things you want in life. When I responded that I was only 14 and not legally allowed to work yet, she handed me a rag and told me I was now hired to clean the windows in the house. I made $10 and went to the movies. The popcorn that day was even more delicious because I felt the satisfaction of earning it.
Years later I was living in the Bronx while attending college at Fordham University. The Bronx was not the safest neighborhood, and one day I overheard a guy talking about how hard it was for him to find a job. He said he was just out of prison and no one wanted to hire him. I made a suggestion that if he couldn’t find a job maybe he could create one. He looked at me as if I should mind my own business. That’s exactly what I decided to do when I made him an offer.
I proposed we form a partnership. I asked him to look up and down the street at all the awnings on top of the local stores. They were filthy and no one was cleaning them. “How long do you think it would take you to clean one of these awnings?” I asked. After some consideration he said, “About an hour.” I then walked into one of the stores and offered to clean their awning for $50. To my surprise, the owner said yes. I asked for a $20 deposit and told him the job would start in about an hour. I walked into ten more stores and signed up seven more customers. I bought a ladder, a hose, a bucket, some soap, and rags.
At the end of the day we had washed eight awnings and after deducting the cost of supplies we each earned $150. The next day we repeated the process and someone asked if we cleaned windows. Flashback to my mom handing me a rag when I was 14 and I immediately said, “Of course we clean windows.” The man was a manager of an old run-down hotel. He asked for a price to clean 1,000 windows, but emphasized that we would have to clean them in one day. I figured we would need 20 workers cleaning 50 windows each. We charged $5 a window and made a profit of $3,000. The funny thing was that all the workers were also people who had recently been released from prison, and none of them could find a job…until that day.
Twenty years later on a recent trip to San Francisco I went into a café for breakfast. While I waited for my order I read a newspaper article about the restaurant. The headline was “Serving Time,” and the article began, “A bank robber is cooking the chicken, a jewel thief is refilling the water glasses, and a waiter is discussing his time in prison…which waiter, all of them.” It turns out that the restaurant is completely staffed and operated by ex-convicts.
Mimi Silbert started the Delancey Street Foundation with a $1,000 loan. Her mission was to revolutionize the way prisoners are rehabilitated. She believed that most rehabilitation centers coddle prisoners and she decided to do the opposite. In exchange for having their basic needs met (shelter, clothes, and food), each convict works hard in a business. They learn life and business skills, and combined with some needed therapy they embark on an amazing second chance. 14,000 former prisoners have gone through the program. 10,000 have gone on to earn a high school equivalency diploma and 1,000 went on to college. Equally as impressive is that 80% avoid going back to jail.
I wonder how many of us are walking around in our own mental prison. We may not be locked up physically, but are we allowing our thoughts to roam free? If we limit our dreams because we’ve failed before then we are sentencing ourselves to a life without parole. It’s time to dream again and perhaps bigger than ever. Give yourself a second chance. You’re the judge and the jury. How about a lifetime sentence of dreaming big? Your rags to riches story may only be one window cleaning away.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Years later I was living in the Bronx while attending college at Fordham University. The Bronx was not the safest neighborhood, and one day I overheard a guy talking about how hard it was for him to find a job. He said he was just out of prison and no one wanted to hire him. I made a suggestion that if he couldn’t find a job maybe he could create one. He looked at me as if I should mind my own business. That’s exactly what I decided to do when I made him an offer.
I proposed we form a partnership. I asked him to look up and down the street at all the awnings on top of the local stores. They were filthy and no one was cleaning them. “How long do you think it would take you to clean one of these awnings?” I asked. After some consideration he said, “About an hour.” I then walked into one of the stores and offered to clean their awning for $50. To my surprise, the owner said yes. I asked for a $20 deposit and told him the job would start in about an hour. I walked into ten more stores and signed up seven more customers. I bought a ladder, a hose, a bucket, some soap, and rags.
At the end of the day we had washed eight awnings and after deducting the cost of supplies we each earned $150. The next day we repeated the process and someone asked if we cleaned windows. Flashback to my mom handing me a rag when I was 14 and I immediately said, “Of course we clean windows.” The man was a manager of an old run-down hotel. He asked for a price to clean 1,000 windows, but emphasized that we would have to clean them in one day. I figured we would need 20 workers cleaning 50 windows each. We charged $5 a window and made a profit of $3,000. The funny thing was that all the workers were also people who had recently been released from prison, and none of them could find a job…until that day.
Twenty years later on a recent trip to San Francisco I went into a café for breakfast. While I waited for my order I read a newspaper article about the restaurant. The headline was “Serving Time,” and the article began, “A bank robber is cooking the chicken, a jewel thief is refilling the water glasses, and a waiter is discussing his time in prison…which waiter, all of them.” It turns out that the restaurant is completely staffed and operated by ex-convicts.
Mimi Silbert started the Delancey Street Foundation with a $1,000 loan. Her mission was to revolutionize the way prisoners are rehabilitated. She believed that most rehabilitation centers coddle prisoners and she decided to do the opposite. In exchange for having their basic needs met (shelter, clothes, and food), each convict works hard in a business. They learn life and business skills, and combined with some needed therapy they embark on an amazing second chance. 14,000 former prisoners have gone through the program. 10,000 have gone on to earn a high school equivalency diploma and 1,000 went on to college. Equally as impressive is that 80% avoid going back to jail.
I wonder how many of us are walking around in our own mental prison. We may not be locked up physically, but are we allowing our thoughts to roam free? If we limit our dreams because we’ve failed before then we are sentencing ourselves to a life without parole. It’s time to dream again and perhaps bigger than ever. Give yourself a second chance. You’re the judge and the jury. How about a lifetime sentence of dreaming big? Your rags to riches story may only be one window cleaning away.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Success is often bittersweet
Veronica and Henry lived on a farm so naturally their son Milton spent many days working the fields and tending to the animals. He was a hard worker but never really fit in well at school. He spent his days dreaming of a better life. He wanted to travel and pursue his own interests. Against his parent’s wishes he dropped out of school. His father told him he would need to get a job, but very few companies were willing to hire a young man with not enough formal education.
Milton wanted a fresh start so he packed his bags and moved to Chicago. He was looking in the paper to find a job when he spotted a help wanted advertisement to work in a manufacturing company that made caramel candies. He loved caramel and was determined to get the job even if it meant he would only be paid in candy. Milton was hired as an apprentice. His pay was very low, but he was excited by the fringe benefits…free caramels at the end of every shift.
Milton had an idea to cover the caramels with chocolate and he made a suggestion at work. His boss disagreed and said it would be too expensive. So at the age of 18, he decided to start his own business. He didn’t have enough money and his inexperience ultimately led to bankruptcy. This was tough on him mentally, but he held firm on his vision and kept moving forward. He stayed in the candy business continuing to learn, and in his mid-twenties, he ventured out again on his own. However, at the age of 28, his second business also failed, and he was forced to file bankruptcy once again. He returned home and was thoroughly embarrassed.
To help pass the time Milton went back to working on his parent’s farm. One day while milking a cow he had another idea. What if he could develop a way to add milk to chocolate? He began experimenting and when he finally developed the right recipe he launched his 3rd attempt at a candy company. He perfected milk chocolate covered caramels and his business was called the Lancaster Caramel Company. The product took off as people loved how creamy the candy tasted, and just a few years later Milton sold the business for a million dollars.
He was too young to retire, so Milton rented a small part of the caramel factory from the new owners of the company and began to develop a new candy. He wasn't allowed to start a competing business, so making caramels was out of the question. In less than a year he launched a new candy made exclusively of milk chocolate. In coming up with a name for his candy he decided to use his last name. That’s how Milton Hershey launched the Hershey Candy Bar and created a chocolate craze that still consumes the world.
Hershey became famous because he figured out a way to bring delicious chocolate to the masses for only five cents a candy bar. If you ever have an opportunity to visit Hershey, Pennsylvania, you can tour his chocolate factory and see how they make candy. You can take a stroll down Chocolate Avenue, and even visit the school that Milton helped start. When he passed away he even left the ownership of the Hershey Company to the school to ensure they would always have funds to educate kids…now that’s a sweet deal.
You might be surprised to learn that the average millionaire in America goes bankrupt 2 times before they become a millionaire. This certainly happened to Milton, and there’s a lesson for all of us as it relates to pursuing our dreams. Obstacles are only obstacles if you see them that way. If you change your mindset you can turn an obstacle into an opportunity. Have a vision and prepare to make adjustments along the way. Failure is only permanent if you stop trying.
Today is my wife’s birthday. Grace and I have been sweethearts for 25 years. Its day’s like these that I get to reflect on how lucky I am to have an amazing wife, friend, and mother to my children. She inspires me to live my dreams and I hope today’s story inspires you to live yours. Hugs and chocolate kisses to you all!
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Milton wanted a fresh start so he packed his bags and moved to Chicago. He was looking in the paper to find a job when he spotted a help wanted advertisement to work in a manufacturing company that made caramel candies. He loved caramel and was determined to get the job even if it meant he would only be paid in candy. Milton was hired as an apprentice. His pay was very low, but he was excited by the fringe benefits…free caramels at the end of every shift.
Milton had an idea to cover the caramels with chocolate and he made a suggestion at work. His boss disagreed and said it would be too expensive. So at the age of 18, he decided to start his own business. He didn’t have enough money and his inexperience ultimately led to bankruptcy. This was tough on him mentally, but he held firm on his vision and kept moving forward. He stayed in the candy business continuing to learn, and in his mid-twenties, he ventured out again on his own. However, at the age of 28, his second business also failed, and he was forced to file bankruptcy once again. He returned home and was thoroughly embarrassed.
To help pass the time Milton went back to working on his parent’s farm. One day while milking a cow he had another idea. What if he could develop a way to add milk to chocolate? He began experimenting and when he finally developed the right recipe he launched his 3rd attempt at a candy company. He perfected milk chocolate covered caramels and his business was called the Lancaster Caramel Company. The product took off as people loved how creamy the candy tasted, and just a few years later Milton sold the business for a million dollars.
He was too young to retire, so Milton rented a small part of the caramel factory from the new owners of the company and began to develop a new candy. He wasn't allowed to start a competing business, so making caramels was out of the question. In less than a year he launched a new candy made exclusively of milk chocolate. In coming up with a name for his candy he decided to use his last name. That’s how Milton Hershey launched the Hershey Candy Bar and created a chocolate craze that still consumes the world.
Hershey became famous because he figured out a way to bring delicious chocolate to the masses for only five cents a candy bar. If you ever have an opportunity to visit Hershey, Pennsylvania, you can tour his chocolate factory and see how they make candy. You can take a stroll down Chocolate Avenue, and even visit the school that Milton helped start. When he passed away he even left the ownership of the Hershey Company to the school to ensure they would always have funds to educate kids…now that’s a sweet deal.
You might be surprised to learn that the average millionaire in America goes bankrupt 2 times before they become a millionaire. This certainly happened to Milton, and there’s a lesson for all of us as it relates to pursuing our dreams. Obstacles are only obstacles if you see them that way. If you change your mindset you can turn an obstacle into an opportunity. Have a vision and prepare to make adjustments along the way. Failure is only permanent if you stop trying.
Today is my wife’s birthday. Grace and I have been sweethearts for 25 years. Its day’s like these that I get to reflect on how lucky I am to have an amazing wife, friend, and mother to my children. She inspires me to live my dreams and I hope today’s story inspires you to live yours. Hugs and chocolate kisses to you all!
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Thursday, October 11, 2012
They said it couldn't be done
October 10, 2012
Jackie was 17 years old when she
got married and had a baby. She was still in high school and within one year
she was divorced and on her own. A few years later she remarried a Cuban
immigrant named Mike and he adopted her son Jeff. As a boy Jeff was a big Star
Trek fan. At school when his friends would act out episodes of Star Trek,
instead of being Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock, Jeff would be the voice of the
computer. He was different and in a remarkable way, he was comfortable being
different.
When Jeff graduated from college,
he had a fascination with computers. At the age of 28 he noticed a trend. It
was the mid-1990s and one in ten households had their own computer. The
internet had just been released to the public and the number of people using it
was growing at 2300% per year. Jeff had an idea. He convinced his parents to
invest some money; he packed a car with everything he owned, and headed to
Seattle, WA. While his wife drove the car, Jeff wrote a business plan. They
arrived in Seattle, rented a house, and Jeff set up his business in the garage.
As Jeff showed his plan to professionals
they all complained about one major issue; Jeff’s business idea wasn’t going to
make a profit for over six years. One person said, “Jeff, this isn’t a
business, this is a hobby. No one will invest and no one will work for a guy
with an idea that doesn’t make a profit and has an office in his garage.” The
comments struck a chord with Jeff, but he believed in his idea so he decided to
move forward in spite of the unknown.
When it was time to hire
employees he decided it would be better if he interviewed them at the Barnes
& Noble bookstore instead of his garage. As part of the interview process
he asked them to take a good look at the bookstore because he wanted them to
realize that the store was not big enough or open long enough to satisfy
customers. His potential employees were confused because the store was huge and
it was open from eight in the morning to midnight. Maybe Jeff was more than different;
maybe he was a bit crazy.
Jeff’s idea was to sell books
over the internet. According to his business plan, he didn’t think he would
sell any books for six months because it would take a long time for people to discover
his little company even existed. Jeff’s company, Amazon.com, started small but
his vision was big – offer millions of books for sale online at anytime, delivered
anywhere, and at a lower price.
Jeff’s idea was so simple and
easy to use that the business took off. In 30 days they sold books to people in
all 50 US States and in 45 countries generating $20,000 in sales. The first
year Amazon had sales of $500,000 and by the second year, they topped $15 million.
In 2011, Amazon had over $17 billion in sales. As amazing as their rise in
sales has been, Amazon lost money for many years. Jeff continued to face criticism,
especially when the dot com companies experienced a bust around the year 2000.
Amazon’s stock price dropped from $100 per share to $6. Jeff’s response was
that he couldn’t predict the future but he believed that not only could Amazon
become the biggest online bookstore but it could also become the largest online
store in the world.
He was right. Today Amazon
generates 1 of every 3 dollars spent online. They sell everything from books to
auto products and they even deliver perishable groceries in the Seattle area.
Jeff Bezos was recently named the most successful internet entrepreneur in the
world, and his net worth is over $20 billion. He still admits he doesn’t know
what the future holds, but one of his projects is building a clock that will
tell time for 10,000 years; it’s a symbol for long-term thinking.
Jeff’s
story reminds me of one of my personal mantras…get comfortable with ambiguity. Unless
you are a fortune teller, don’t let the unknown get in the way of pursuing your
dreams. There’s no benefit to waiting for everything in life to line up
perfectly. It never does. Chart your course, jump in a boat, and enjoy the
Amazon River of life. Getting wet along the way is part of what makes life’s
journey interesting.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
I think I'm getting taller
October 3, 2012
Have you ever attended a Little League
baseball game? My youngest son is 11 and plays on a local team. He absolutely
loves it. This year he’s playing third base, and every now and then he pitches.
I enjoy watching him play with the exception of the hard wood benches that the
parents sit on during the game. Even though its Little League the kids take it
pretty seriously. As a spectator I often find myself passing the time observing
the mindsets of the different kids on the field. How they react when they get a
hit or make a great play and even how they react when they strike out.
I recently attended a game that
was quite interesting. It looked like my son’s team was playing the NY Yankees.
The other kids hit every ball to the fence and their pitchers threw fast balls,
curve balls, and even a breaking ball. They were really good and my son’s team lost
9-0. If you are familiar with the movie the Bad News Bears that’s how my son’s
team played that day. Two kids on his team actually ran into each other in the
outfield and the ball dropped in between them. Every kid struck out that day
including my son. On two different occasions the ball was hit to third base,
and as my son bent over to scoop it up the ball went in between his legs. The
first time it happened he looked confused and the second time I thought I
noticed a little smile on his face.
The game ended with a boy on my
son’s team striking out. The winning team threw their gloves in the air and
cheered. The only sound louder came from the kid who was next to bat on my
son’s team. Since the game ended right before he came up to bat he put both
hands in the air and yelled, “Yes!!! I didn’t make the last out!” He appeared
to be the only happy player on the team. Several kids were crying and most had
their heads down including the coach who seemed a bit embarrassed. Then I
noticed my boy with a smile on his face congratulating the other team. In the
car ride home we called my wife so she could get a baseball update directly
from the source.
I put her on speaker phone and
her first question to Hayden was “How was the game?” Without missing a beat
Hayden said, “It was a great game for the other team.” My wife laughed and I
looked to see if he was being serious or sarcastic. Surprisingly, he was
seriously happy for the other team. Then my wife asked for the score; when she
heard they lost 9-0 she asked if he still had fun. He didn’t even hesitate when
he said, “Mom, I got to play baseball today for over 90 minutes, how could that
NOT be fun.” Lastly she asked him how he did. First he said that he struck out
twice and he needs to work on becoming a better hitter - he’s looking forward
to batting practice. Then he looked at me with excitement and said, “Hey Dad,
did you see those two balls that went right through my legs?” I told him I did
and he said, “Isn’t that great…I think I’m getting taller!” He sure found a way
to focus on the positives that day.
There’s a
saying that you can’t control the circumstances in your life but you can
control how you react to them. All of the kids on my son’s team were at the
same game but they choose different ways to experience it. It really comes down
to your mindsets. You’ve probably experienced this in your own life. When you
choose to focus on situations that make you sad, angry, or disappointed then
you end up finding more reasons to be upset. However, if you focus your energy
on what is positive, even the upside of a down situation, then you begin to
experience more positives in your life. As you go through your day, remember
how lucky you are that you get to pursue your dreams. With this type of mindset
you will always win the game of life, no matter what the current score is.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
Sometimes you have to change lanes to get where you want to go...
September 26, 2012
I was in my early
twenties when I first met Michael. I was teaching a youth entrepreneurship
class in a part of New York City known as "Hell's Kitchen." Michael
was a tough kid sitting in the front row. I asked if anyone knew how to spell
entrepreneur and Michael raised his hand. I gave him a piece of chalk and he
completely massacred the word on the board. What I loved about him immediately
was his willingness to take a risk. Little did I know that he was the leader of
one of the most ruthless gangs in NY - The Decepticons. Michael was eager to
learn about business. He had amazing street smarts which easily translated to
business smarts. Two months later, he decided to leave the gang. Apparently,
leaving isn't as easy as you and I might think. In order to leave, he had to
get shot. Not with a fatal intent but certainly to deter defectors and to
remind him to keep his mouth shut.
When I asked Mike
what he was passionate about he told me he always loved elevators. He loved the
mechanics that enabled them to work. He regularly complained that all the
elevators in the housing project where he lived were broken. No repair men
would come onto the property because they would get mugged. Michael had an
idea. He would become an elevator repairman. After all, who would dare try and
mug him. He asked me how he could start his own elevator repair business. I
suggested he first get a job working as a repairman to see if he liked it and
to also learn the trade. Michael called for an interview and was told there was
a long waiting list and it could take months to even get an appointment. He
didn't let that deter him. He asked to speak with the president of the company
and the receptionist said that wasn't possible.
The next day,
Michael put on a business suit and went to the parking lot of the Otis Elevator
Company at 6 AM. He found out that the president gets their early everyday
around 6:30 in the morning. When the president arrived he was surprised to see
a well-dressed teenager waiting at the door. Michael told him he knew the
business didn't open until 8, but he came early to meet with him. He explained
his passion for elevators, his ideas about expanding repair service to the
toughest neighborhoods, and his burning desire to learn the business-even at an
entry level position. The president took out one of his business cards,
scribbled a note on the back, and handed it to Mike. He told Mike to come back
when they open and to give the business card to the front desk manager. With
that, they shook hands and parted ways. Mike's heart was pounding as he looked
at the business card and turned it over. He was stunned as he read the two
words that the president wrote on the back of the card..."Hire him."
To make it official, the president signed his name.
What's your burning
desire? What old ways are you willing to part with because they don't serve you
anymore? It takes courage to make a change in your life. It's not too late.
It's never too late!
Until next week...
Passions into Dreams
September 19, 2012
Tragedy struck when Johnny was 17 and his mother was killed in a car accident. Once again he turned to his guitar for comfort. One day on the bus ride to school he heard that another kid lost his mother to cancer. That kid was James and he was only 15. Johnny felt bad and sat next to him on the bus. They shared a similar interest in guitars and the two of them started playing chords and making up lyrics.
They had an idea to form a band but they needed one more person. James recommended his friend George, but George was only 14 and Johnny thought he was too young. They couldn’t find anyone else so George was in. They called themselves Johnny and the Moondogs. They weren’t that good, but they loved to play, and they practiced a lot more than they did their homework.
The three guys played cover songs at school events, church outings, and in a little coffee shop owned by the mother of their friend Pete. Pete played the drums and when he joined the band they changed their name to The Quarrymen in honor of the local Quarry where none of the boys wanted to work. They made a pact to keep practicing so they could eventually get paid to play music. No one hired them because they were just kids, but Pete’s mom, in an effort to keep her son off the street, allowed them to keep playing at her coffee shop.
A few years later they were hired to play at a nightclub. Even though the money wasn’t that much, Johnny believed it was a sign of positive things to come. They asked their friend Stu to come along and now the band had five members. The good times didn’t last that long because George was arrested and sent home for being under age…he was only 17 at the time and it was illegal for him to perform in a nightclub. The guys went home too and continued to practice clinging to the thought that their day would come.
Johnny and James wrote a song and a local radio station agreed to play it. The song was pretty catchy and the guys got an appointment with a record label, but the label turned them down saying they didn’t like their music, and noting that guitar music was on the way out. However, that song kept getting played and it wasn’t long before “Love Me Do” was a smash hit. After a few more adjustments to the band, their lives were about to change. Stu decided he would rather pursue being an artist and Pete was replaced. The final four included John Lennon, James Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr and with one more name change, they became forever known as The Beatles. Within four years Beatlemania swept the world and in addition to living their dreams, the friends all became millionaires.
It’s estimated that the Beatles practiced for over 10,000 hours before they became famous. That’s the equivalent of working 40 hours per week for 5 years. Not many people are willing to work that hard to achieve their dreams. Most of us want our lives to change without the effort and persistence that is required. As journalist Sydney Harris put it, “Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.”
The process that transforms a band into the Beatles is the same process that transforms your passions into your dreams. When you do what you love and you maintain a burning desire to succeed, it rarely feels like work. 10,000 hours becomes a journey of joy and it often leads to what others call an overnight success.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
July 5, 2012
Harry stood out from the other kids. He seemed to have more street smarts than book smarts. Perhaps that’s what develops when you grow up poor. Harry’s grandfather was in the garbage removal business and many people looked down on him for that. Harry’s own father didn’t want anything to do with garbage removal so he steered clear of it. But Harry was different; he liked everything about the big trucks and didn’t mind getting dirty.
Very few people aspire to become garbage men and Harry decided to pursue college instead. To help pay for school he pumped gas at a local station and drove a dump truck part time. He quickly learned that he really wasn’t cut out for college. He loved to play practical jokes and one time he got in trouble for bringing a baby alligator into the college dorm. At the start of his sophomore year, Harry decided to drop out. He joined the Army and after a few years he still felt lost. It was time for him to pursue his passion, no matter what others thought about him.
At the age of 25, Harry started working in a garbage removal business. He lived in South Florida and the region was experiencing significant growth. Harry saw an opportunity to go into his own business. His family was poor and he didn’t have much money either, having just recently married. He had an idea and he made an offer to the owner of the garbage company. He asked if he could buy just one old garbage truck and the collection route for 20 customers. The owner decided to sell him one of the oldest trucks he owned and a list of customers in a lower income part of town. Harry was able to borrow $5,000 from his father-in-law.
One of Harry’s friends from high school saw him driving the garbage truck and thought he must have hit rock-bottom. Harry would drive the truck from 2:30 in the morning until noon, picking up garbage throughout the day. Then he would spend the afternoons knocking on doors trying to get new customers. His hard work paid off. Little by little he would add more customers and then buy another used truck and hire a driver. In a few years, Harry accumulated over 40 trucks and then he merged his business with another garbage removal company in Chicago.
Harry had an even bigger idea. He decided to buy smaller garbage companies all over the United States and roll them into one big company. By the time he was 37; Harry Wayne Huizenga (pronounced High-zinga) was a multi-millionaire and owned the largest garbage removal business on the planet, Waste Management, Inc. Over the span of twelve years, he had acquired over 150 garbage companies and his stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
A dozen years later, Wayne (he goes by his middle name) ventured into a new business but used the same strategy. He bought a small video rental chain for $7 million and then started acquiring hundreds of mom and pop video stores. In less than ten years Wayne owned over 3,700 stores and his company, Blockbuster Video, was valued at over $4 billion. Blockbuster was the second company Wayne took to the New York Stock Exchange. He later sold Blockbuster to Viacom for over $8 billion.
I met Wayne shortly after the sale to Viacom. We were mutual friends with Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, and the three of us met to discuss youth empowerment. Wayne told me about his latest venture called AutoNation, the first national chain of car dealerships. He eventually grew AutoNation to 370 stores and they became the first car dealership to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Wayne is also the only person to have owned three professional sports teams, football’s Miami Dolphins, baseball’s Florida Marlins and hockey’s Florida Panthers.
I still remember Dave Thomas joking that Wayne did pretty good for himself, especially for a garbage man. This reminds me of the saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. How often do we let other people’s opinions get in the way of our own dreams? It’s time to embrace the 100% Accountable mindset and take out the head trash stored between our own two ears. Simply put, find what you love and pursue it with passion.
Until next week…
Live Your Dreams
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